Recovery
by TheFanficSlave3
Summary: She looked hauntingly familiar. Color streaked hair. Finally, she wore make-up, her hair pulled up into a flawless ponytail. Her eye shadow complimented her face shape, making her look striking, bold and in control. Tori let out a gasp once there was a close-up. She dropped the controller. It was Jade. ;Jade/Tori;
1. Chapter 1

It had been four months since the shooting. It had been three months since Jade was found again. Tori sighed as she sat down in her desk; she was at Greenbay High, a public school filled with bullies and a shitty arts program. Tori hadn't seen Jade in four weeks; she had refused to let anyone but her mother in her room, and her tutor. She had been recovering just fine for a month or two, but after a while her life seemed to go downhill. She didn't eat, drink or speak. The hollow look returned to her eyes. Constantly, she'd wake up screaming in the middle of the night, begging Beck to stop, or other things.  
Long story short, things weren't going great. Jade wouldn't answer her texts or her phone-calls. Or her emails, letters and everything else she had sent her. Tori was extremely worried, and the only reason she didn't run through Jade's bedroom door was because her mother said that the doctor prohibited it. So instead, she sent her a letter every day, even if she didn't reply, maybe she'd be reading them. Maybe she just couldn't put her words on the page, like Tori often wasn't able to do. A lot of the time, she had gone through over 20 pages of paper before she finally got what she wanted to say down. Then she'd go through and write it again until it was perfect.  
Tori sighed; it had been a pretty un-eventful four weeks without Jade. Cat wasn't her happy self. Most of the time she sat in her wheelchair, eyes glazed over, and she hardly ever ate. Sometimes, she'd show a bit of life and flinch when someone threw a ball of paper at her. But other than that she was pretty much dead. As for her sister, Trina, she wasn't in school anymore. She had come home from college as soon as the shooting happened, but had left two weeks before. So Tori was virtually alone, constantly bullied by the students and teachers. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the bodies. Robbie, Andre, Cat, Sikowitz, Sinjin, Beck, "Jade.." she thought in her head, and let her eyes snap open. She couldn't handle the image of that.  
A loud bang brought Tori from her thoughts, and instantly she was on the floor, hands over her head, under the tables. "Not again, not again, not again…" Tori begged God to let the killer make it quick, and she let out a strangled scream when the gloved hand came down on her shoulder. "Please! Please!" She screamed, "Don't! Please!" The figure held a black pistol, and wore a ski-mask over his face. He grinned down at her. Then pulled the drigger.  
It was water.  
Around her, laughter erupted from the kids in the cafeteria. The boy with the mask and fake gun pulled his mask up, laughing so hard he was crying. He finally stopped laughing and looked at her, grinning sadistically. The same smile Beck had…his eyes too… the same shade of brown. Suddenly, she was back in the school, facing Beck, watching him with Jade…  
Tori flew at him, raking his claws across the boy's face, screaming profanities. A teacher ran over, pulling her off of him and dragging the sobbing girl away.  
She was sent home, and there she turned on the television, slumping onto her bed, furious. The school had done NOTHING to stop the bullying. NOTHING. The teachers let the students walk all over her. They were all despicable.  
It wasn't until she heard a familiar name being said on the news that she paid attention. It was a young man reporting at the bridge over the harbor. He was explaining the situation at hand, a young girl, 17, was standing, perched, on the side of the bridge. She looked hauntingly familiar. Colour streaked hair. Finally, she wore make-up, her hair pulled up into a flawless ponytail. Her eye shadow complimented her face shape, making her look striking, bold and in control. Tori let out a gasp once there was a close-up. She dropped the controller.  
It was Jade.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay quick author's note, Danielle(cough the person who actually writes this; i'm just here to upload the chapters because she still can't figure out how to) wanted to say that she'll try to update again over the holidays but might not be able to**

**okay yes enjoy this chapter (or not because it's terrible sobs loudly)**

* * *

Sometimes, when no one was awake, Jade would slip out of her room and downstairs. Then she would walk outside and sit on the front porch of her home. Sometimes, she'd read on the porch, or smoke a drag. Other times though, she'd just sit there, with a stony look on her face. Jade would sit there for hours at a time, then slip in and pretend to sleep just before her tutor showed up.  
The cycle would repeat it's self a few times each week. On the nights that she stayed in her room, she would finger her phone, wanting, desiring, to call or text Tori. But she never let herself do it. Jade knew that Tori would be able to tell right away about the drugs. Her mother was oblivious, just happy to have her back. Her therapist didn't know, or her tutor. Only Jade. It was always, only Jade. At the moment though, Jade sat in her room, looking out the window. In her hand she held a small bag. Inside was a handful of white, crystal substance.  
Crack.  
She had never gone as far as Crack; usually she only had a few joints here and there. She had control of her situation. Jade didn't notice when her mother walked into her room, holding a bowl of chicken noodle soup. She did notice though, when her mother let out a gasp of shock, and slammed down the bowl on her desk.  
"What the hell are you doing!?" Her mother screamed, snatching the bag from Jade's hands.  
"Give that back!" Jade yelled to her mother, reaching for the bag, only to be pushed to the side as her mother ran out of the room and towards the washroom. She was going to flush it!  
Jade ran after her mother, "No! Mom! Please don't!"  
But her mother just ignored her, and poured the substance down the toilet and pulled the flusher. Then she stood and faced her daughter, rage and pain clear on her face and in her eyes. "How could you?" She yelled, "You're better than that!"  
"It was MINE, Mom! That cost me two hundred dollars!"  
"And whose two hundred dollars was it, Jade?"  
Silence.  
Then, in a feeble whisper, Jade said, "Yours. It was your money."  
"That was for your therapy Jade! How could you! Ugh!" Her mother screamed, grabbing Jade's arms and pulling her into her room.  
Jade snapped, memories came flooding back to her like a harsh slap to the face. She remembered Beck dragging her to his bedroom, where she had been forced to have sex, use drugs and other, terrible things.  
"GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!" Jade bellowed, smashing her mother against the wall again and again, then threw her to the floor when she realised what she had done. Blood poured from her mother's nose, and her eyes fluttered. Then she passed out.  
"I've turned into Beck. I'm a monster… I just attacked my own mother!" She thought to herself, and started to panic. Quickly, she grabbed towel of cold ice and put it onto her mother's neck. It would slow the blood flow. Jade had started to hyperventilate when she saw the blood. Suddenly, her mother started to convulse under her, gasping for air. Then she fell still.  
Hastily, Jade felt for a pulse. When she didn't feel one, she started to sob. "Mom! Mom! Wake up, please mom wake up!" Jade had unintentionally killed her mother, and she fell into a heap on the floor, sobbing.  
Hours later, she stood, the tutor would be here in 30 minutes, and she couldn't be here when he got here. So Jade stood up slowly, and suddenly knew what she was going to do. As if she was in a dream, Jade walked to her bathroom. It took her ten minutes to put her hair up into a flawless ponytail, and another ten minutes to put on her make-up. Like she used too; Jade returned to her mother and kissed her cheek. "We will see each other soon, I promise." She whispered, then stood and walked out of the house.  
Jade walked, not really knowing where she was going. It took her about an hour to get where she apparently wanted to go. She stood in front of a large bridge, over the harbor. She could see cars zipping across it, and people walking across it as well. So she sighed and climbed up onto the bridge. About halfway across, she ran into another person walking. The man rudely swore at her and pushed her away from him. Jade flinched as if he had shot her, whispered a feeble sorry, then kept walking. She glanced up at the bridge railing, and got her idea. Looking from side to side, she climbed up onto it and moved so she could just jump.

_I'm falling apart…barely breathing._  
_With a broken heart...that's still beating._  
_In the pain, is there healing?_  
_You said that I could be okay…_

Behind her, she could hear people gasping, and one person calling the police. She stood there, ignoring the begging for her to get down. Jade stood there, sure of what she was about to do. She didn't care anymore, Tori would be fine. She had Cat.  
Jade stood there for forty minutes. It was enough time for the media to show up and the strategic response unit. She just ignored the people there; she ignored the man climbing on the ledge with her, a harness around his waist. He asked her to come with her, to take his hand.  
Finally she said something. "I'm dead anyways..."  
Then she jumped.


	3. Chapter 3

**10:37 am, Saturday March 4th, 2010**  
The man beside Jade made a grab for her. For a moment, he actually managed to catch her, and he hung there with her over the bridge. It wasn't until Jade bit his hand so hard she felt bone, that he let go. And then she was zipping through the air. The television crew zoomed into her face, and she looked…happy. Content…peaceful. She hit the harbor with a splash. Instantly, police officers were diving into the water from the boat stationed below the bridge. They dug around for a minute, two minutes, and three minutes before they finally pulled her limp figure from the water. Her lips were blue, her cheeks blue…everything…blue. The police officer was performing CPR on Jade, counting out the beats.

One, two, three, four, five

Breathe

One, two, three, four, five

Breathe

One, two, three, four, five

Breathe…

She wasn't breathing. She wasn't moving. She had no pulse. The paramedics brought out the defibrillator, charged the paddles to 200, and shocked her. When they got no response, they charged it to 300, then 350.

No pulse. No breathing. No signs of life.

Tori had been out of the house and zooming down the highway when she saw Jade jump. So she got to the harbor in five minutes. They were still doing chest compressions. Everyone knew the girl's name, knew what had happened, so they didn't protest when Tori demanded to ride in the ambulance with her. They knew their past. So they sped away, leaving the media behind, and towards the hospital.

**10:52 am, Saturday March 4th, 2010**

Tori sat silently outside of the trauma room, where Jade was being tended to. She had started breathing, then stopped, then started again. After the second time they needed to resuscitate her, the doctor had ordered Tori out of the room, and she had left, only when she was dragged out by the paramedics.  
After another twenty minutes, the doctor came out, looking tired and stressed. He was sweating slightly, and he walked towards her. When Tori stood, he shook his head, "You may want to sit down for this, Tori." He said gently. "My name is Dr. Phillips…"

Then she received the worst news of her entire life.

* * *

_Time stands still_  
_Beauty in all she is_  
_I will be brave_  
_I will not let anything take away_  
_What's standing in front of me; _  
_Every breath_  
_Every hour has come to this…_  
_One step closer…_

Brain dead. Jade was brain dead.

The doctor spent the next ten minutes explaining what it was. That Jade's body was alive and well, but her brain was, well…dead. She would never wake up. Never laugh. Never sing. Never walk again. Tori's beautiful girl, her first, real love.

She would never know about the little box tucked under Tori's pillow with the ring in it. The promise of a wedding. The promise of everlasting love.  
Tori was going to walk over that very day, and ask Jade to marry her.

And now it would never happen.

The doctor explained that there was a choice to be made. That once Jade's mother got here, she would choose whether or not to pull the plug; he also explained that there was a 2% chance of waking up. But it hadn't happened in twenty years. After the doctor left, Tori sat there for two hours. Two whole hours, before she could bring herself to even look in the window at Jade's small figure lying on the bed, taped to needles, tubes and respirators. She looked pained; the few seconds of bliss were long gone now.

**1:45 pm, Saturday March 4th, 2010**

Tori and the doctors had just received word that Jade's mother was in critical condition; therefore, she couldn't make the decision. So they called up her father, who was away on business and he was there in less than an hour. He didn't even look at Tori when he arrived, but just stormed up to the doctors and demanded to know what happened. When he heard everything, he didn't even miss a beat. He said that Jade would stay on the ventilators, and she would be kept alive.

"No!" Tori protested when she overheard the decision.

"Excuse me? What right do you have here?" Jade's father hissed at her, "You couldn't keep her from doing this, and I won't let her die!"

"She's going to waste away here! Do you want that?" Tori yelled, shoving him. Then she turned around and stalked away, outside, where she sat and cried.

**3:23 am, Sunday March 5th, 2010**

Tori knew what she had to do. So she waited until the shift change at 3:20 am, and walked into Jade's room. She held a flower. A rose, it had been Jade's favorite. She sat there for a minute then took Jade's hand, and whispered into her ear. "I have you Jade. And I will always love you. For a thousand years, then a thousand more. I'm going to set you free now." She stood, and locked the door behind her. Then Tori turned and faced Jade, tears already streaming down her face. She slowly walked over to the machines and took a deep breath. Then she unplugged wire after wire, ignoring the sounds of the machines flat lining. Tori hesitated before pulling the last one; Jade was struggling to breathe now. But she had already started, so she had to finish now. Tori pulled the last plug, and waited.

Two minutes later, Jade was dead.

It had taken less than eight minutes.

"Time of death, 3:34 am." She sobbed, and then fell to the ground, unlocking the door as she did so. She let the doctors rush in, and heard them try to bring Jade back. They couldn't though. Before Tori was dragged away by the police, she glanced at Jade's face one last time.

It was free of pain, stress, and trauma. It was peaceful.

Apart from Tori. Tori was broken.

* * *

**Author's note: Okay. I'm sorry. Really sorry. But I had to do it, it fit with the story. So before you decide to kill me for what you're about to read, just know this. It WILL get better, and it's not as bad as it seems. PLEASE keep following the story and have an amazing holiday season!**

**Again. I'm sorry for this. It killed me to write it. But again, it will bet better.**


	4. Chapter 4

**'it gets better' she said**  
**AHAHA scREECHES**  
**okay um i'm sure Danielle will have something good happen in the next chapter(and if she doesn't i will hurt her) but for now she's leaving you with this.**  
**have fun having your heart ripped out.**

* * *

Jade was floating through darkness, so this was what death felt like. Empty, cold, hard. Was she expected to stay like this for all eternity? Was she, Jade, supposed to play along like a little rag doll? No. She wouldn't give up like this. She couldn't give up.

And just like that, Jade didn't want to die. So she was given a second chance.

Suddenly, Jade found herself in her home again, sitting beside a few familiar faces. Robbie, Andre, and many of the other kids who were killed by Beck; they all sat there, solemned faced, like their task ahead was impossible. Robbie was the first one to speak; he stood and clasped his hands together loudly and awkwardly. He cleared his throat, "So, Jade." Robbie started, "When you were about to cross over, you tried to change your mind. So it brought you here, to the in between stage. Here, you will have to explain to us why you want to go back, and you will need to confront your deepest fears so we know you are capable of going back. Because we can't send you back if you'll only just kill yourself again once things get hard. Do you understand so far?"

Jade just nodded, too dumbfounded to speak.

"Good, now, you will need to pass both of these tests with a certain amount of points out of five. You need three to go back, any less, and you join us over in the land of the dead. Understand?"

"I-I understand." Jade stammered out, her gaze flicking from side to side.

"Good, follow me." This Robbie was all business, not the awkward, fun loving boy who Jade had once hated. No. This boy was trying to save her life, and he was damned sure he would succeed.

Jade had no choice but to follow him, and turned to look at the others for help, but as if they were a robot, they shook their head in one synchronised movement. By the time she turned around to follow Robbie though, he had vanished. Then she felt a cold hand on her shoulder,

"Well, common then." He said, then took her hand and led her upstairs into her room. There, she saw it exactly how she had left it. With her mother sprawled out on the floor and a pool of crimson blood around her. Then her mother did the impossible; she started to move, and stood in front of her daughter. Jade was too surprised and scared to speak, so for two minutes, they just stood there. They probably would have just stood there forever if Robbie hadn't cleared this throat and said, "I'm sorry to ruin this moment, but we have a limited time to get things done. The longer we stand here, the more likely Jade is not going to wake up. Every ten minutes here is one minute there. It takes approximately three minutes of no air for someone to be deemed dead. So we only have thirty minutes…well…twenty-five now. Now, Jade, tell your mother why you did this to her."

"I-I can't tell her." Jade protested, "It just happened!"

"You know as well as I do that there was a reason behind you attempting to kill your mother Jade, she's in the same situation as you. If you both can pass these tests then you both can return to life. Now tell her."

Jade nodded, it wasn't just her life on the line now. It was her mother's too. So she took a deep breath, and began. "Mom…I didn't want to kill you, or hurt you. But those…drugs…were the one thing that let me escape. They took me to a place without Beck, Andre, Robbie, Trina, Tori, you, Cat and everyone else. Not that I didn't want to be near you, but you and Tori were so obsessed with my getting better, that you didn't let me have down time. I was always studying, attending therapy sessions, working on physical therapy, writing down my feelings for you to read. Did you ever think that all I needed was to have silence now and then?" Soon the words were flying out of her mouth, and she was practically yelling now, "But no, you made me wake up at 7:30 am every morning and walk around the house, then study, then therapy, then do an activity with you like baking or cleaning. Maybe you thought that if you tired me out that I couldn't do anything to hurt myself, but it made me even more determained to escape. So when you took that escape away…" Jade's voice cracked, "I was broken. And you didn't see it!" She screamed the last words at her mother, slamming her fists against the wall as she did so.

There was silence for a moment, then her mother spoke. "Jade…baby. I didn't want to see you die. I couldn't lose you; I couldn't bear the thought of you turning into a monster. I kept you busy because I was worried about you. I just wanted to keep you safe baby." And just like that, her mother was gone. Jade looked at Robbie, and he nodded.

"She passed her last test. You're not done yet. Follow me; we've got a ways to go yet."  
He took her hand and led her out of the house, towards the school.

What would have been a twenty minute walk took thirty seconds. It wasn't Greenbay…it was Hollywood arts. It wasn't in ruins, but the police were stationed outside, and Robbie just walked through the crowd like he belonged there. There was a tarp laid on the ground, people had three different tags attached to them. Black for dead, Red for emergency, and Green for able to wait for attendance. Cat and Robbie laid there, Cat with a red tag, Robbie with a black one. They lay beside each other, hands just barely touching, but not quite. They never really had the chance to show how much they had really loved each other, even though it had been obvious to everyone else around them. The scene was so heart-wrenching, Jade ran to catch up to Robbie, who stood at the doors of the school. Without a word, he opened the door and walked in. Jade had no choice but to follow.

Inside, Robbie walked up the stairs, and Jade got a gross feeling in her stomach. Like he was leading her towards something she didn't want to see. Once upstairs, Robbie opened the door to a room, and Jade let out a strangled cry once she saw what was happening inside. There stood Beck, over top of Jade and Tori, grinning sadistically. He knelt down in front of Jade, smiled, and grabbed her, then started to kick her.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Jade screamed at Robbie, "Take me away from here right now dammit!" She turned to leave, but was stopped by Andre, but this one, much like Robbie, had a slight glow. This was the already dead one.

"You can't leave Jade if you want to live anymore." He whispered, eyes pained.

"Did you ever think that maybe I don't want to live anymore, Andre? Robbie? Ever think that one out?"

Robbie sighed, burying his head in his hands, "Then my work is done here. Good-bye Jade. I'll see you on the other side." And with that, Andre, Robbie, the other Jade, Beck and Tori were gone. She stood there in the room, alone.

"Wait!" She yelled, "I-I didn't mean it! Come back! Robbie! Andre! I want to live! Don't leave me here!"

And just as quickly, they were all back, Robbie looked at her seriously.

"We don't usually give second chances, use this one wisely Jade. We don't come back for you next time." He snapped, and the scene changed. They were in the house Beck had taken her to.

Jade saw herself sprawled out on that dirty old bed. She, herself, wanted to vomit right then and there. But she refrained. That didn't stop the urge to leave though. All she wanted to do was leave then, she would have given almost anything to leave. But she couldn't, Andre had a firm hold on her. So Jade just stood there, resisting the urge to slit her own throat. She saw Beck doing horrible things to her, and when he finished and left, she saw herself cry. Then she saw herself stand and attempt to hang herself. That's when the scene ended. They were in a hospital now and Jade saw Tori being dragged away from her room, and the doctors trying to resuscitate her.

"Jade, you have one minute to decide whether or not you want to return. You passed the test, but now, you choose." Robbie took a blade out from his pocket. "You can kill yourself now, and be done with life forever. Be done with pain and suffering. Or you can, not use the knife and return to the land of the living. There, you will have to return to therapy and try hard not to lose yourself again." He handed it to her, "It's your choice."  
Jade turned the blade in her hands, if she killed herself, there wouldn't be pain. If she didn't, there would be. Jade knew what she was going to do. She raised the blade in the air and brought it down…

And stuck it into the table. "I choose to live." She said, looking at Robbie, who smiled so wide she thought he's tear his skin. Then he hugged her.

"Good-bye then, Jade. And do me a favor. Hug Cat extra tight the next time you see her. For me."

Then he was gone.

* * *

Jade woke with a gasp, the doctors cheered and leaped into work. They hooked her back up and asked her a series of questions. Jade answered them all without really focusing. She was so excited to be back… that she didn't notice Tori being dragged away by the police. She didn't notice her dad pulling out a knife, bringing it down on Tori's chest. She didn't notice anything until Tori let out a scream of pain, fell to the ground, and lay there, still as a rag doll.

She did notice, Tori's blood though.


End file.
